A* students achieve borough's best ever GCSE results

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Lady Margaret sees 98% of students gaining five or more A* - C grades

Hammersmith & Fulham secondary schools have achieved the borough's best overall GCSE results ever - with dramatic improvements at Burlington Danes School, which lived up to predictions in its recent Ofsted report, and Phoenix High School, which is one of the most improved schools in the country.

The top performing school in the borough was Lady Margaret, in Fulham, where 98% of students gained five or more A* - C grades. These are the best GCSE results in the school's history and a fitting tribute to Joan Olivier, who retired this summer after 22 years as headteacher.

Students at Sacred Heart High School, in Hammersmith, excelled themselves - with 91% gaining five or more A* - C grades, matching last year's results which were also the school's best-ever. This confirms the 'outstanding' rating given to the school in its latest Ofsted report earlier this year.

Christine Carpenter, headteacher of Sacred Heart High School, said "We have had an increase in the number of pupils gaining A and A* grades across the board. I'm enormously proud of the pupils and of the staff, who have worked incredibly hard."

The London Oratory School, which was also rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted in the school's latest inspection report this year, also lived up to expectations with a 90% pass rate at grades A* - C. Almost 10% of students at London Oratory gained six or more GCSEs at A* and almost a quarter achieved eight or more A* and A grades.

The provisional figure for the percentage of H&F students gaining five or more passes at A* to C is 64.2% this year - 5.2 percentage points up on last year's overall figure, which was the most improved in London for 2004-05. The latest results are expected to be above the percentage nationally gaining five or more good grades at GCSE when the final school performance tables are published in about four months' time.

Spokey Wheeler, headteacher of Burlington Danes School, in Shepherds Bush, said "This has been a fantastic year for us and I am proud of what our students and staff have achieved. We have had a very positive Ofsted report, achieved city academy status and are moving forward with all the pride of a school that is succeeding."

From September the school will become Burlington Danes Academy. The new city academy will undergo a £15 million redevelopment programme in 2008-9 to improve buildings and facilities.

William Atkinson, headteacher of Phoenix High, in White City, said: "We are so pleased with the achievements of our young people. These results are further confirmation of the quality of education on offer at Phoenix High School."

Hurlingham and Chelsea School, in Fulham, achieved its best overall results so far - with 34 per cent of students gaining five or more passes at grades A* - C, compared with 28 per cent last year, and 97 per cent of students gaining at least five A* to G grades. The school also received a positive Ofsted report recently, which cited 'rapid improvement' at Hurlingham and Chelsea.

Headteacher Phil Cross said: "Our results are significantly up, which is further evidence of rapid improvement at Hurlingham and Chelsea School."

Cllr Alexandra Robson, the council's cabinet member for education,
said: "Local students from a wide range of abilities and backgrounds have shown they can achieve outstanding results and some of our schools are among the top performers and most improved in the country. We need to make sure that as many of our students as possible have the chance to progress into further and higher education and ultimately into satisfying and well-paid jobs. The council will be working with all our schools to further improve students'
exam results and life chances."

Provisional results for individual schools, compared with last year. (Last year's results, shown in brackets, are from January's school performance tables)

Percentage of pupils gaining five or more GCSE passes at grades A* to C:

Phoenix High 78% (60)
Sacred Heart 91% (91)
Lady Margaret 98% (95)
London Oratory 90% (92)
Burlington Danes 50% (34)
Hurlingham & Chelsea 34% (28)
Henry Compton 28% (34)
Fulham Cross 41% (52)

Overall borough figure 64.2% (59)

 

September 11, 2006